Turf sports fields enter four-year lighting upgrade program

Sports clubs will have a four-year program for turf-field lighting upgrades after Georges River Council unanimously endorsed works funded through its adopted Sports Field Lighting Upgrades budget.

The program will be included in the council’s Four-Year Capital Works Program and is based on the Lux Lighting Prioritisation Matrix and Methodology for Turf Sports Fields. The resolution did not publish individual project costs, construction dates, suppliers or contractors.

The endorsed works apply to turf sports fields. Separate investigations will be considered for other outdoor sporting surfaces, including netball, tennis and basketball hardcourts and synthetic turf fields.

A future report will outline the scope and cost of starting those lighting audits. Council will consider that report before deciding what further audit work should proceed.

The resolution was moved by Councillor Natalie Mort and Deputy Mayor Councillor Sam Stratikopoulos. It passed unanimously, with all 16 councillors recorded in the vote supporting it.

The program provides a staged approach to lighting improvements through the council’s capital-works process. It does not allocate a published amount to any individual sports facility, and the resolution does not identify when construction will begin.

The separate audit proposal covers sporting surfaces that are not part of the endorsed turf-field works. Its scope and cost will be set out in the future report, including the work needed to assess lighting at hardcourts and synthetic turf fields.

For clubs and users of local sports facilities, the immediate outcome is an endorsed turf-field lighting program, while lighting audits for additional surfaces remain subject to a later report and further council consideration.